RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of West Virginia >> Wyoming County >> Lacoma >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Lacoma, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lacoma and the surrounding area.

  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Lacoma:
    • 37.743443, -81.679557
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Lacoma
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Wyoming County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wyoming County
    • Since Lacoma is near Logan County and also Boone County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Logan County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Boone County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Lacoma

Curious and Interesting Names Near Lacoma ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Claypool
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Claypool is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claypool
  • Coal Mountain
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Coal Mountain is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Mountain
  • Cyclone
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Cyclone is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cyclone
  • Edith
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Edith is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edith
  • Glen Fork
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Glen Fork is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Fork
  • Greenwood
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Greenwood is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Hatcher
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hatcher is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatcher
  • Jesse
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jesse is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jesse
  • Lillydale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Lillydale is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillydale
  • Lillyhaven
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Lillyhaven is located in Wyoming County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillyhaven
  • Mallory
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Mallory is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
  • Mineral City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Mineral City is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral City
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Pardee
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Pardee is located in Logan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pardee
    • Rocklick
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Rocklick is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocklick
    • Sun Hill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Sun Hill is located in Wyoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Hill
    • Turkey
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Turkey is located in Wyoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey
    • Uno
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Uno is located in Wyoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uno

How Far From Lacoma to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Lacoma to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Lacoma and extending to:

  • Pineville, which is the Seat of Wyoming County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Lacoma to Pineville, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 41 miles [66 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 263 miles [423.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,142 miles [9,884.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,854 miles [11,030.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,730 miles [7,612.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lacoma) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<3>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Lacoma to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lacoma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7434, Longitude: -81.6796       In this case, the coordinates for Lacoma have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.70 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.468 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.076 degrees.